Local teacher workshop opportunity
TIFFIN, Ohio — Seneca Conservation District is partnering with Crawford & Marion Soil and Water Conservation Districts to host the 19th annual E.A.R.T.H. Workshop at New Riegel School on June 23 & 24. Any teacher, formal or informal, preschool to high school grade level, from anywhere in Ohio is welcome to attend.
Featuring sessions, field trips, resources and classroom ready activities, the workshop’s theme will be the traditional fable of The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse. The conflicts, choices and conservation efforts of town and country people are nothing new and the speakers we have lined up will give attending teachers plenty of background, lessons and alternative applications for helping students explore, understand and ultimately decide which mouse they relate to best. As students learn the Ohio’s Next Generation Science Standards, they are equipped with real world applications and life skills that will make them responsible and respectable adult conservationists, much like the two mice in the fable.
Workshop details
The workshop is divided into two ‘days.’ During Country Mouse Day – Tuesday, June 23 – there will be sessions from the Ohio Corn Marketing Association, Crawford SWCD, Geological Society of America and Seneca Conservation District’s Kelly Schott. Field trips will explore new ethanol and energy curriculum and area farms (with an underground twist) to learn and understand soil health with farmers and geology tour guides. During Town Mouse Day – Wednesday, June 24 – session speakers will cover scientific inquiry with a live animal session from the Toledo Zoo, the Sandusky River Valley Beekeepers Association, a STEM session with Dr. Bob Horton and the Toledo water crisis from Harmful Algal Bloom. Field trips will visit the town of Tiffin to visit the Franciscan Earth Literacy Center or the town of Fostoria to visit downtown to learn about the trains, museums and how to photograph it all.
Complete session and field trip descriptions are available at www.conservesenecacounty.com. Registration brochure and form are also available there or by calling the office at (419) 447-7073. Early bird registration is $55 if received by May 29. Payment must be in the form of check or purchase order and should accompany the registration form in the mail. Registrations will be accepted until June 12 at the regular rate of $65 per person. Light breakfast, snacks and lunch, as well as field trip transportation, materials and T-shirt are included in the registration cost.
Graduate credit is available through Ashland University for an additional $200, to be collected at the workshop. Additional questions and workshop inquiries can be sent to bdiesch@conservesenecacounty.com.
